THE COURIERHEARTFELT FEBRUARY2840 East Orange Rd, Lewis Center, OH 4303518 | PETS AND PAWSITIVITYcaring companions9 | MISSION MADUROcapture in caracasFEBRUARY VOLUME 18 | ISSUE 5the languages of loveself-loveplatonic love/friendshipsthe !ve love languagesdigital loveplatonic love/friendships
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TABLE OF CONTENTStable of contents | staffcover designer rylee bokesch | table of contents designer sakara rossWRITING EDITORS IN CHIEFabby kuilanabi wykoffSECTION EDITORSSTAFFkelsey beattygeorgia browningmalak chahboubava pazaktori de penataylor guzekava mejiasophia robinsongrant ruofcarter shillingabigail simmonselijah smiessavanna smithDESIGN EDITORS IN CHIEFsakara rossrylee bokeschaudrey del vecchiocate woolardkeira dicksonlyla biceBUSINESS MANAGERSaudrey del vecchiotenley walkerCOPY EDITORStenley walkerdelaney newellCOLUMNISTSshiv majmudaraudrey del vecchiocate woolardkari phillipsADVISER17 | PROFILEinternational exchange students at orange10 | COVERthe languages of love14 | SCENEboys basketball face o! against hilliard bradley6 | NEWSpunxsutawney phil predictions14 610 17CHECK OUT THE COURIER’S ONLINE SITE! ALL YOUR FAVORITE WRITERS AND DESIGNERS GO DIGITAL. SCAN THE CODE WITH YOUR CAMERA TO BE TAKEN DIRECTLY THERE!PROJECTSreema mohamed rafiqfebruary 3
STAFF EDITORIALthe benefits of platonic lovewriter the editorial board | designer taylor guzek | source national retail federation The month of February is universally known as the month of love, and for good reason. It’s the second month of the new year and the !rst seasonal holiday a\"er the winter holidays. It’s seen as a “refresh” month and a way to celebrate love, which is why people can !nd almost every supermarket decked out in red, white and pink.While the holiday may have started o# as a holiday to celebrate Saint Valentine, it has long since become an almost toxic holiday. $e societal norms and advertisement around this holiday imply that one needs to be in a romantic relationship to enjoy the holiday, leading to a cultural pressure that leaves people who are single feeling inadequate. $is propaganda has also led to the idea that only romantic relationships can be celebrated on Valentine’s Day.With the rise of social media, expectations for Valentine’s Day have also risen. Couples feel the need to post every aspect of their relationships and o\"entimes portray an idealistic life that many individuals do not have. $is starts the toxic social media comparison that makes individuals feel like they are not meeting certain standards regarding their relationships.According to a 2024 survey cited by Forbes Magazine, Americans are expected to spend about $14.2 billion on their partners, emphasizing how the holiday has shi\"ed away from love and to high expectations for gi\"s and grand gestures. Instead of celebrating everyone’s love, Valentine’s Day has now become a competition. What once used to be private gestures has now moved to grand public displays that serve as a comparison standard. $ere’s a large importance placed on having romantic relationships during Valentine’s Day, that people tend to forget about the other relationships. For example, platonic friendships, self-love and familial bonds are all important relationships that deserve to also be highlighted during the holiday of love. A popular way to celebrate platonic relationships right now is known as Galentines. Instead of celebrating just romantic relationships, we as an editorial board believe that there needs to be more importance placed on relationships that aren’t just romantic. While platonic relationships aren’t the same as ‘being in love’, there are emotional gains that come from platonic relationships. $ese relationships provide people with emotional support in the form of a friend rather than a romantic partner. Having someone one enjoys spending time with, according to the National Library of Medicine, is one of the most rewarding human stimuli. According to an online mental health site, Cerebral, building platonic relationships can even lead to mental health bene!ts by providing emotional support, reducing stress and building resilience.Overall, we, as an editorial board, implore students to not only put importance on romantic relationships but also take time to appreciate the platonic relationships students have, whether that be with friends or family. Not all types of relationships need to be romantic, and we advise students to additionally remember that not all romantic gestures need to be publicized and set to a high standard. We, as an editorial board, want to remind students that at its core, Valentine’s Day is to celebrate all types of love. editorial4 februaryEDITORIAL STATEMENT$e Courier is the o%cial student-produced medium of news and information published by the Advanced Newspaper Journalism students of Olentangy Orange High School.$e Courier has been established as a designated public forum for student journalists to inform, educate and entertain readers as well as for the discussion of issues of concern to their audience. It will not be reviewed or restrained by school o%cials, adults or sources prior to publication.$e content of $e Courier is determined by and re&ects only the views of the student sta# and not school o%cials or the school itself. $e Courier will not publish any material, determined by the sta# or adviser, that is libelous, obscene or disruptive to the school day.
MELTING ICEenforcement gone too farwriter abby kuilan | designer taylor guzek | source instagram and reddit postingsAround 30 years ago, my dad le! everything and everyone he knew or loved back home in India with the intent of pursuing better opportunities in the “land of the free”. He came with the purpose of providing a better future for his children in a country claimed to be a melting pot of di\"erent cultures all over the world. Just like him, there are millions upon millions of immigrants coming to this country with the same dreams — dreams that are being withheld because of President Trump and his harsh enforcement of ICE on immigration.#ere were around 53.3 million immigrants living in the United States in January 2025, a record high, but just $ve months later in June, the population started to decrease to 51.9 million according to the Pew Research Center. #e decrease can be accounted for mostly by ICE, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. #eir main object is to uphold the immigration law and target threats to national security and the safety of the public, according to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. However, since the increase in ICE operations in the past year, even people who were asylum seekers have found themselves forcefully detained and sent to Texas from Minnesota to face deportation, according to CNN.Legal status in America has always been a long standing cause of disagreements with many people, including the president, claiming that “illegal aliens” need to be stopped from entering the nation. #e majority of the time, though, people are %eeing crime or hoping for better economic opportunities in America. #ere is also the case of a student or work visa expiring, which then leads to illegal status. #e U.S. immigration system is not only old and restrictive but also time consuming. People in my life have a hard time coming across legal status in the United States, even while coming legally and acquiring a VISA, which are legal but temporary documents allowing someone’s stay in the country. #e next step a!er getting a VISA is then applying for a green card, but there’s a long waiting time to receive one. In my own life, I know many who have had to wait 10 years or more to just get a green card. But still, even with a green card, a person isn’t guaranteed safe from ICE and can face deportation.One of the root causes of unrest in American people because of ICE is the fact that more o!en than not, ICE is detaining innocent people unwillingly with brute force. Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias and his son, Liam Conejo Ramos, were detained in Minnesota earlier this month, with the latter being a 5 -year-old boy having just arrived home from school. Millions of immigrants live in fear every day now, staying in their houses in case of an altercation with ICE, which then leads to their deportation.#e Trump administration has stated that they have deported 605,000 people from Jan. 20 and Dec. 10, 2025. #ere have also been around 1.9 million people who deported themselves voluntarily a!er the administration’s aggressive tactics to raise fears and advocate for them leaving to avoid being detained. In November 2025, there were around 65,000 people being detained in detention centers; many of these people’s families went days and even weeks without knowing their location, according to BBC News.#ere has been a spotlight on Minnesota recently with the high amount of ICE o&cers concentrated in the state. It has also been where Renee Good was shot and murdered in her car a!er trying to pull away from an ICE o&cer. #e shooting occurred on Jan. 7, and not even three weeks later, on Jan. 24, Alex Pretti was also shot and killed by an ICE o&cer, with the administration painting both victims as “terrorists” attacking the ICE agents. #ese two shootings, unfortunately, aren’t the only ones that have happened as well, according to PBS News. ICE has shown to not only cause fear in communities but also extreme external harm as well. #ere is absolutely no justi$able reason for innocent people to constantly live in fear of being stripped away from everything they know and love because of their desire for a better life.#is is a time when it has been hard for many to feel powerless and to lose all hope, but there are still initiatives to take to abolish ICE. Calling local senators in Congress and urging them to vote for the defunding of ICE in upcoming bills is a crucial way to help out and staying educated and knowing one’s right is also bene$cial. Also, remembering this country was built on the backs editorialfebruary5
GROUNDHOG DAY punxsutawney phil sees his shadowwriter lyla bice | designer ava mejia | permission to print lyla bice On a cold February morning, a crowd with thousands of people bundle up with anticipation as they await the sunrise. Although temperatures were frigid, devoted fans from all over the country gathered in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to be the !rst to know what seasons await them.Groundhog Day took place on Feb. 2, when groundhogs and other prophesizing animals across the nation are believed to indicate the length of the cold winter and if spring will come early or not. \"e most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, has a fanbase of thousands from around the world, and this year marked his 140th prognostication.“It was cold, but festive because everyone there was excited for Groundhog Day,” junior Natalie Deutschendorf said, who attended a Groundhog Day event. According to Punxsutawney lore, Phil, the groundhog, has been forecasting the weather since 1886, an event that takes place at the outdoor grounds called Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney and is hosted by \"e Groundhog Club’s Inner Circle, which is a group of local men who plan and execute all local Groundhog Day festivities, according to groundhog.org. \"ese festivities include a talent show, a formal ball, a banquet and a luncheon with Phil.“My favorite part of Groundhog Day is that I got to spend it with my friends, and we got to miss some school,” junior Arya Lammert said. If the weather is cloudy on Groundhog Day, then the groundhog will not see his shadow, and spring will come early. If the sun is out and the groundhog sees his shadow, then six more weeks of winter is imminent, and winter will last until March, according to groundhog.org.“I was hoping for early spring because I don’t like the cold. It’s so cold in the morning walking from my car to the school, but I love the snow days,” Lammert said.On this year’s Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and prognosticated six more weeks of winter, a prediction that came right a#er huge snow and ice storms hit many parts of the United States Although many are disappointed, Phil’s predictions only hold a 35 percent accuracy rate, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.“I don’t think the groundhogs are accurate, and they just get it right because it’s a 50/50 chance,” Deutschendorf said. \"e state of Ohio has its own o$cial groundhog that predicts the weather. Buckeye Chuck, who was declared Ohio’s o$cial groundhog by the state legislature in 1979, makes his appearance in Marion, Ohio every year to make his prediction. Although there wasn’t as large of a crowd as Punxsutawney, dozens of Ohioans came out to see Chuck on Feb. 2.“\"e vibes in Marion were there. Everyone was vibing despite the fact that it was so cold outside (but it was in a garage so at least we were a little w a r m e r t h a n those in Punxsutawney). My friends and I were pretty !red up because we all had matching beanies and sweatshirts. You could tell that everyone was excited to see the famous Buckeye Chuck,” Lammert, who went to see Chuck, said.Other little known weather predicting groundhogs include Staten Island Chuck, who has an 85 percent accuracy rate and predicted six more weeks of winter, according to the NOAA. In Ohio, Walnut the Hedgehog from Dayton and Benny the Bass from Buckeye Lake both predicted an early spring, which are forecasts that align with Buckeye Chuck.“\"e groundhogs can’t be trusted because Phil said six more weeks of winter but Chuck on the other hand said early spring, so now it’s like ‘who’s the fraud?’,” Lammert said.While for some, Groundhog Day brings dread of the future winter, others await the prospect of an early spring. No matter which season is predicted, everyone always has a reason to see the holiday as a day worth the celebration. news6 februaryBuckeye Chuck does not see his shadow and determines early until spring.Buckeye Chuck interacts with visitors in Marion, Ohio on Feb. 2.
MISSION MADUROvenezuelan president’s capture in caracaswriter ava pazak | designer carter shillingIt was a quiet night in Caracas, Venezuela. !e air was warm, and the slightest breeze echoed through the streets as the city slowed down to make way for the tranquility of the night. But this mirage of serenity was hiding something much more ominous, and the silence of the night was interrupted by the sound of low-\"ying planes and a booming explosion. At 2 a.m. on Jan. 3, U.S. military forces bombed Caracas’ main military base, Fuerte Tiuna and captured both Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores through the military operation Absolute Resolve. !is operation was formulated with the intention of capturing President Maduro and trying him on counts of narco-terrorism, drug tra#cking and weapons charges. Maduro pled not guilty on all counts.Valentina Infante is a senior at the high school who immigrated to the United States from Venezuela in 2022 and witnessed the e$ects of Maduro’s destructive presidency %rst-hand.“My initial reaction [to Maduro’s capture] was surprise, as it was something many had been expecting yet no one knew how, when, where or even if it would actually happen,” Infante said. “People were waiting anxiously, which placed both the country and Venezuelans abroad in a constant state of tension.”!e inception of this tension can be traced far back into Venezuelan history, beginning in 1999 with the election of Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chavez, according to Frank Muci from the London School of Economics.Chavez was known most notably for implementing poor macroeconomic policy and cyclical spending during his term. Venezuela’s economy relies strongly on oil, and instead of saving the money generated from their exports, government spending outpaced income from taxes and other revenue.In 2013, Chavez passed away and appointed Maduro as his successor, but the change in presidency did not bring change to the struggling country. In 2014, oil prices plummeted from $100 per barrel to $40 per barrel, but due to the extreme debt the country was already in, Venezuela was dug into an even deeper hole. !e Central Bank of Venezuela was tasked with printing more money, but their currency was rendered almost worthless and in\"ation increased 65,000 percent by 2018, according to Muci. Under Maduro, the government stripped millions of acres of private property from citizens and transferred them into national property. Private sectors of the economy were also stripped and price/pro%t controls went into e$ect, destroying investments and only giving government assisted exchange rates to cronies and political allies.Venezuela’s poor economic framework led them to be the victims of the largest economic decline in history outside of war, revolution, or state collapse, and it is believed that over 7.9 million people have le& Venezuela since the start of the crisis.While the capture of Maduro sparks hope among many Venezuelans, the future for the struggling country is uncertain.“We really don’t know if this event will have a lasting impact as full change has not yet occurred,” Infante said. “Although Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured, the so-called ‘Chavismo’ remains in power and continues to control Venezuela. Within the country, many people cannot openly express their thoughts due to fear of reprisals, censorship or persecution.”Along with the fear of a continuing dictatorship are worries of the United States’ intentions in capturing Maduro and ‘controlling’ Venezuela.AP US History Teacher Leslie Hosgood argues that United States intervention in Latin America is nothing new, and for centuries U.S. politicians have intervened in Latin countries to varrying degrees.“!eodore Roosevelt’s ‘Roosevelt Corollary’ essentially saw the US positioning itself as a ‘police power’ in Latin America,” Hosgood said. “!is theme reached new levels during the Cold War. !e U.S. attempted to or successfully orchestrate regime change in countries like Cuba, Guatemala, Chile, Nicaragua and Panama.”While the ousting of communist leaders and mediation in extreme socialist countries was positive in theory, the United States almost always had ulterior motives.“!e justi%cation for action was usually to oust a pro-Communist or Soviet aligned government, while also protecting American business interests,” Hosgood said. “For example, we fought the Spanish in Cuba and supported Panamanians declaring independence from Colombia as a way to get land rights for the Panama Canal.”It is understood that the most recent motive for the United States’ involvement in Venezuela is to secure oil reserves there, many politicians arguing that the action taken would prevent competitors such as Russia or China from accessing these reserves. Regardless of hidden motives, the ousting of Maduro marks a new chapter of Venezuelan history that many are looking to with hope. While it is uncertain what the future will hold, many Venezuelans are grateful to turn a new page.“Honestly, I hope this chapter concludes with a return to the Venezuela that existed before the governments of Chavez and Maduro,” Infante said.newsfebruary 7
ACING THE ICEice hockey program growswriter kelsey beatty | designer grant ruof | permission to print griffin takacs and paul riskoLights blink on over the rink, and the early arrivals slip onto the ice, warming up for empty stands. Silence falls over the space aside from the scraping of skates into ice, making room for the noise of mounting expectations.!e Pioneers have set a clear goal, one they must now live up to: “We’ll be just as good, if not better, next year than we were this year,” Head Coach Dylan Gray said, “We’re going to be better every year.” !is momentum must begin with building the culture, something the players are already doing, according to their coach.“Our team culture’s de\"nitely changed the direction the team wants it to,” Gray said. “All the guys have come together and bought into what we’re trying to do here, and it’s really helped get us this far. So has getting the right guys into leadership, and [the team] pushing each other into that winning mindset of wanting to be at the rink, be at practice and give their 100 percent every time.”Players also credit this shi#to the sta$ change between this season and last. Gray was formerly the JV coach, a role \"lled by Coach Edward Miley when Gray moved up to be coach of the varsity team.“Last year, our coach was a little stricter and wasn’t as laid back with the guys and didn’t interact with us as much socially as our new coach does,” junior Rylan Pfa$ said. “So that plays into it. Plus, a lot of us have played with our new coach already since he did coach JV last year [which helps the team dynamic].”!is mindset change has certainly carried over to the team’s strategy. “Last year, it was more serious, [whereas] this year, we’re a little more laid back, but we’re still trying to have fun and obviously win as many games as we can,” Pfa$ said.!is approach seems to be working for the team— it now stands 19th in the state at 15-13-2, far above the 14-16-3 it landed at last season.“I’ve been here for three years, and [this season has] been our most productive year across the board as far as the varsity and JV programs are concerned,” Gray said.However, many coaches and players are also hyping the youth of the team as the program’s possible revival.“!is year’s [varsity] team is very young compared to last year,” senior Nolan Perry said. “We are mostly juniors and sophomores, so while we are not as experienced, we are all very closely bonded.”But this season may have given the team time to mature, creating an asset for the Pioneers going into next season. Gray reiterated this idea, hinting at future success for the group. “With our junior class, most of those guys are on varsity now, but I think they’ll make a big impact in the league going into their senior year, with all the experience they’ve got from the last two years,” Gray said.Not to mention the underclassmen rising through the program, ready to \"ll the spots of graduating seniors on varsity. When asked about young talent, coaches and upperclassman players were quick to mention freshman Landon Fry.“I played club with Landon Fry. He’s obviously really skilled. De\"nitely one of the better players on JV right now,” Pfa$ said.Another freshman, Connor Grady, came up o#en too.“Connor Grady has some really nice hands,” Pfa$ said. “So he’s de\"nitely one of the more skilled guys on JV [also].”!e mixture of young stars, upperclassmen poised to step up and positive leadership changes puts the team in a good place for the next season. But this does not come without expectations.“Next year, the goal is obviously to win a championship,” junior Jackson Tiedje said. “And then maybe to buy in a little more [with this new group].”But for now, the Pioneers are looking to maximize the season they have le#, and capitalize on the growth they have already created.“With the season coming to the \"nal stretch, we [still] have the end of year tournament (CBJ Cup) and the playo$s,” Perry said. “Our goal is to make a deep playo$ run.”sports8 februaryLANDON FRYClass: 2029Level of Play: Junior-VarsityGoals: 25Assists: 31Previous Teams: Columbus Capitals 14U AAPosition: CenterOther Achievements: Led last seasons team Capitals AA team in 91Class: 2029Level of Play: Junior-VarsityGoals: 41Assists: 22Previous Teams: Ohio Blue Jackets 13U AAAand the Columbus Capitals 14U AAPosition: Right Wing and CenterOther Achievements: Went to 21 nationalsCONNOR GRADYJVSPOTLIGHTEND OF SEASON RECORD: 17-9-3
IN THE ZONEwomen’s rugby grows in popularitysports columnist cate woolard | designer grant ruof | source usa rugby, world rugby, and pitch bookingWomen’s rugby has been on the rise in recent years and is only continuing to grow. According to World Rugby, engagement has grown to 89 percent in the United States in the past four years, and 49 percent of those fans have joined in the past two years. I hope that we only see the game continue to rise from here.A U.S. women’s rugby team was !rst present at the Olympics at the 2016 games held in Rio. In the 2024 Olympics, held in Paris, the U.S. team won its !rst medal at the games when it placed third and received a bronze medal. \"e 2024 Women’s Rugby team contains one of my personal favorite athletes, Ilona Maher. Maher is not only an amazing athlete, but she also has a large presence on social media, with 3.9 million followers on TikTok and 5.4 million on Instagram. She is a big advocate for body positivity and con!dence. She was also on the popular show “Dancing With the Stars” and made it to the !nale with her partner Alan Bersten.In addition, Maher had a partnership with Maybelline to promote one of their lipsticks. According to PR Newswire, Maher was a part of the campaign for Maybelline’s Super Stay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick. During this campaign, she talked about how the lipstick would last even through her demanding training sessions and games. As someone who loves both makeup and sports, it is so special to see two of my favorite things together.Maher has become an inspiration for countless young female athletes and is a big part of the sport’s recent growth. She is one of the most, if not the most well known female rugby player.Women’s rugby is not talked about enough, and in my opinion, the sport and players deserve way more recognition for the dedication and talent needed to be successful in this sport. According to World Rugby Passport, the game requires speed, endurance, functional competence and strength.Something else that makes rugby so di#cult is the size of the !eld, also known as the pitch. According to Pitch booking, the width of the pitch can range from 230 to 223 $, and the height can be anywhere from 328 to 308 $, this means that a rugby pitch is actually bigger than a soccer !eldAccording to Six Nations Rugby, the game does not have a lot of clock stoppage. \"is makes the game so much more fun to watch. \"e game has more %ow than other sports like football, where I can sometimes get distracted or bored because of all the breaks.Something that I !nd really interesting about rugby is that none of the players wear that much padding, if any at all. Instead, the players are taught to use strategies such as using shoulders and arms when making contact, and players even get penalized for making hits above that or doing any other dangerous plays, according to USA Rugby.USA Rugby continues on to say that these punishments can include a yellow card with the player having to sit on the bench for two minutes in rugby sevens and 10 minutes in rugby 15s, and even serious ones can result in a red cardAccording to Rugby World Cup, there was a women’s Rugby World cup in 2025, where England defeated Canada with a score of 33-13.Rugby is such an interesting game, with so many di&erent rules and players. So next time you’re bored, consider checking out a women’s rugby game. You’ll have lots of fun and really end up falling in love with the game.sportsfebruary 9Women’s rugby engagement has grown 49 percent in the last two years, raising the total to 89 percent of Americans.The width of the pitch can range from 230 to 223 ft, and the height can be anywhere from 328 to 308 ft.Punishments can include a yellow card with the player having to sit on the bench for two minutes in rugby sevens and 10 minutes in rugby 15s, and even serious ones can result in a red card.Facts about Rugby in AMericaSports columnists Audrey Del Vecchio and Cate Woolard.
HEARTFELT FEBRUARYthe languages of love writers keira dickson, elijah smies, cate woolard & abi wykoff | designer sakara ross | permission to print zacharaiah thompsonIn a world reliant on digital relationships through texting, social media and dating apps, it’s important to remember that not all relationships need to be built on technology, and reverting to the classic love languages can show someone how one truly cares.Classic Love Languages and FriendshipsFive classic love languages are prominent in relationships: physical touch, gi!s, acts of service, quality time and words of a\"rmation. Every person shows an attraction, in one way or another, to these #ve love languages. “Personally, my love language is physical touch. I prefer it because it tells me what my partner is really feeling and gives a feeling of genuineness, as opposed to other things like talking, which can easily be m a n i p u l a t e d , ” sophomore Andrew Fenton said.When relationships use any of the #ve classic love languages, they are said to be much more successful and create stronger, lasting bonds and communication between two partners, according to simplepsychology.org.$ese love languages are essential to a relationship’s success, as when they align between two partners, they further strengthen the previously existing bond. $is being said, relationships that don’t follow speci#c love languages can still succeed. “Relationships can de#nitely succeed without people having speci#c love languages because it is important to care for the other time doesn’t mean they have to have that love language for the rest of their life.“My love language probably has changed over time because I used to believe that my love language was words of a\"rmation, but to me, it just sounds like someone is saying it to me, and I don’t feel anything. I feel like receiving gi!s is just much more of a thoughtful and compassionate gesture for someone to do,” Pelphrey said. It is always important in a relationship-#lled world that is constantly evolving to meet the standards of technology to remember the roots of the original #ve crucial love languages.$e di%erent love languages are mostly associated with romantic relationships, but it’s just as, if not more important to use these languages with one’s friends.“My love languages are quality time and acts of service,” senior Maddie Martin said. “My friends and I love quality time together, and we always hang out at our favorite restaurants and go on drives.”According to Friendship With Intention, words of a\"rmations are using words to show a%ection, like through compliments, and quality time is spending time with other people. Friendship With Intention continues on to describe receiving gi!s as buying / receiving thoughtful gi!s from friends, acts of service as providing help to friends and physical touch is physically touching one’s friend, with consent obviously.person or just like who they are as a person, not about what act of personal love they have,” sophomore Norah Pelphrey said. When both partners express the same love language, a certain emotional equilibrium is reached, and both the act of expressing and receiving a speci#c love language provides emotional feedback. With that being said, there are many successful ways to compromise when partners do not share a love language.If both partners feel more emotionally connected through di%erent love languages, a simple solution to prevent ri!s is for each partner to l e a r n t h e other’s love language and how to express it properly, according to psychologist Dr. Gary Chapman from simplepsychology.org. $ough the #ve classic love languages share equal amounts of a%ection, some remain less used by others. $e most common of these “underrated” love languages is the act of giving and receiving gi!s. “I believe gi!-giving is very much overlooked in a relationship. O!entimes, we forget that gi!s can be the simplest way to really show a person that you really do care and want to put e%ort into a relationship,” Fenton said.While many love languages vary from person to person, just because there is a certain way that someone would feel the most love expressed to them at a certain point in “My main love language is gi! giving. I love seeing people’s reactions to receiving a personal gi!,” junior Maddie Patton said.Friendships are important in life, especially during high school. Friendship can be a place for people to feel comfortable and when they can be themselves. Friendships also provide support, especially during hard times.“Friendships improve my life because they provide support and comfort to not feel so alone,” Martin said.Friendships can also be an escape from pressure and responsibility. Friends can provide a place to let one’s guard down and just have fun.“Honestly, friendships are a place where you don’t feel judged and criticized. Parents have stricter rules and sometimes can’t be as supportive. With friends, you can build your own little family, be yourself and not worry about responsibilities,” Patton said.Having healthy friendships is just as important, if not more important in some cases, than romantic relationships. Having people to relate to and socialize with can improve not only mental but also physical health. “Solid friendships,” AP Psychology teacher Brooke Sandy said, “are a good indicator of our overall health and honestly longevity in life. Friendships can be longer lasting and more important in some instances than romantic relationships, although not always the case, but having close friendships, socialization, people that you relate to, you enjoy being around, those are all things that add value to our life and that is bene#cial for our mental and physical health from decades of research.”Showing love to one’s friends is so important to sustain healthy friendships. Love languages are a great way to show friends how much they mean, and doing it in a way that really makes them feel loved and appreciated can make all the di%erence.“$e di%erent love languages help you understand how to help your friends and get little insight into people’s lives. You can use them to show how much you love your friends,” Patton said.According to health network, humans more. “What one person is comfortable with in terms of signs of love and a%ection, like words of a\"rmation or physical touch, is not necessarily what another person may be comfortable with and so a good friend, #rst and foremost, would ensure that they’re in congruence on that, right, that like if are inherently social creatures, and showing a%ection strengthens social bonds, causing them to be stronger and last longer.“It’s important because it adds to friendships, to the value of them, to the experience of friendships and to the development of human relationships,” Sandy said.Sometimes, people can begin to question if their friends really do enjoy being around them, and that’s just a part of life. It’s so important to remind people how important they are to try to prevent this insecurity. According to Contented Mind from the UK, friendship anxiety, though not a medical term, is common, and it can be shown through symptoms of jealousy and having trouble saying no to friends.“Some people struggle with wondering if their f r i e n d s actually like them, and that’s a part of high school. A big part of friendships is a need to feel validated,” Patton said.It’s important to show love to di%erent people in di%erent ways. Not everyone is going to appreciate and love all the same things, so it’s important to show love to di%erent people in di%erent ways. “It depends on the person, no matter what respect their love language,” Patton saidIt’s especially important to make sure to avoid making people feel uncomfortable. According to Simplicity Relished, using a friend’s preferred method of a%ection can lead to a better connection and grow the friendship covercover10 february february 11“Those [close friends] are all things that add value to our life and that is beneficial for our mental and physical health from decades of research,” said AP Psych teacher Brooke Sandy.Keys tolong distance a successfulrelationshipStrong CommunicationConsistentNjorƮEmotionalSupport andOpenness
HEARTFELT FEBRUARYthe languages of love writers keira dickson, elijah smies, cate woolard & abi wykoff | designer sakara ross | permission to print zacharaiah thompsonIn a world reliant on digital relationships through texting, social media and dating apps, it’s important to remember that not all relationships need to be built on technology, and reverting to the classic love languages can show someone how one truly cares.Classic Love Languages and FriendshipsFive classic love languages are prominent in relationships: physical touch, gi!s, acts of service, quality time and words of a\"rmation. Every person shows an attraction, in one way or another, to these #ve love languages. “Personally, my love language is physical touch. I prefer it because it tells me what my partner is really feeling and gives a feeling of genuineness, as opposed to other things like talking, which can easily be m a n i p u l a t e d , ” sophomore Andrew Fenton said.When relationships use any of the #ve classic love languages, they are said to be much more successful and create stronger, lasting bonds and communication between two partners, according to simplepsychology.org.$ese love languages are essential to a relationship’s success, as when they align between two partners, they further strengthen the previously existing bond. $is being said, relationships that don’t follow speci#c love languages can still succeed. “Relationships can de#nitely succeed without people having speci#c love languages because it is important to care for the other time doesn’t mean they have to have that love language for the rest of their life.“My love language probably has changed over time because I used to believe that my love language was words of a\"rmation, but to me, it just sounds like someone is saying it to me, and I don’t feel anything. I feel like receiving gi!s is just much more of a thoughtful and compassionate gesture for someone to do,” Pelphrey said. It is always important in a relationship-#lled world that is constantly evolving to meet the standards of technology to remember the roots of the original #ve crucial love languages.$e di%erent love languages are mostly associated with romantic relationships, but it’s just as, if not more important to use these languages with one’s friends.“My love languages are quality time and acts of service,” senior Maddie Martin said. “My friends and I love quality time together, and we always hang out at our favorite restaurants and go on drives.”According to Friendship With Intention, words of a\"rmations are using words to show a%ection, like through compliments, and quality time is spending time with other people. Friendship With Intention continues on to describe receiving gi!s as buying / receiving thoughtful gi!s from friends, acts of service as providing help to friends and physical touch is physically touching one’s friend, with consent obviously.person or just like who they are as a person, not about what act of personal love they have,” sophomore Norah Pelphrey said. When both partners express the same love language, a certain emotional equilibrium is reached, and both the act of expressing and receiving a speci#c love language provides emotional feedback. With that being said, there are many successful ways to compromise when partners do not share a love language.If both partners feel more emotionally connected through di%erent love languages, a simple solution to prevent ri!s is for each partner to l e a r n t h e other’s love language and how to express it properly, according to psychologist Dr. Gary Chapman from simplepsychology.org. $ough the #ve classic love languages share equal amounts of a%ection, some remain less used by others. $e most common of these “underrated” love languages is the act of giving and receiving gi!s. “I believe gi!-giving is very much overlooked in a relationship. O!entimes, we forget that gi!s can be the simplest way to really show a person that you really do care and want to put e%ort into a relationship,” Fenton said.While many love languages vary from person to person, just because there is a certain way that someone would feel the most love expressed to them at a certain point in “My main love language is gi! giving. I love seeing people’s reactions to receiving a personal gi!,” junior Maddie Patton said.Friendships are important in life, especially during high school. Friendship can be a place for people to feel comfortable and when they can be themselves. Friendships also provide support, especially during hard times.“Friendships improve my life because they provide support and comfort to not feel so alone,” Martin said.Friendships can also be an escape from pressure and responsibility. Friends can provide a place to let one’s guard down and just have fun.“Honestly, friendships are a place where you don’t feel judged and criticized. Parents have stricter rules and sometimes can’t be as supportive. With friends, you can build your own little family, be yourself and not worry about responsibilities,” Patton said.Having healthy friendships is just as important, if not more important in some cases, than romantic relationships. Having people to relate to and socialize with can improve not only mental but also physical health. “Solid friendships,” AP Psychology teacher Brooke Sandy said, “are a good indicator of our overall health and honestly longevity in life. Friendships can be longer lasting and more important in some instances than romantic relationships, although not always the case, but having close friendships, socialization, people that you relate to, you enjoy being around, those are all things that add value to our life and that is bene#cial for our mental and physical health from decades of research.”Showing love to one’s friends is so important to sustain healthy friendships. Love languages are a great way to show friends how much they mean, and doing it in a way that really makes them feel loved and appreciated can make all the di%erence.“$e di%erent love languages help you understand how to help your friends and get little insight into people’s lives. You can use them to show how much you love your friends,” Patton said.According to health network, humans more. “What one person is comfortable with in terms of signs of love and a%ection, like words of a\"rmation or physical touch, is not necessarily what another person may be comfortable with and so a good friend, #rst and foremost, would ensure that they’re in congruence on that, right, that like if are inherently social creatures, and showing a%ection strengthens social bonds, causing them to be stronger and last longer.“It’s important because it adds to friendships, to the value of them, to the experience of friendships and to the development of human relationships,” Sandy said.Sometimes, people can begin to question if their friends really do enjoy being around them, and that’s just a part of life. It’s so important to remind people how important they are to try to prevent this insecurity. According to Contented Mind from the UK, friendship anxiety, though not a medical term, is common, and it can be shown through symptoms of jealousy and having trouble saying no to friends.“Some people struggle with wondering if their f r i e n d s actually like them, and that’s a part of high school. A big part of friendships is a need to feel validated,” Patton said.It’s important to show love to di%erent people in di%erent ways. Not everyone is going to appreciate and love all the same things, so it’s important to show love to di%erent people in di%erent ways. “It depends on the person, no matter what respect their love language,” Patton saidIt’s especially important to make sure to avoid making people feel uncomfortable. According to Simplicity Relished, using a friend’s preferred method of a%ection can lead to a better connection and grow the friendship covercover10 february february 11“Those [close friends] are all things that add value to our life and that is beneficial for our mental and physical health from decades of research,” said AP Psych teacher Brooke Sandy.Keys tolong distance a successfulrelationshipStrong CommunicationConsistentNjorƮEmotionalSupport andOpenness
somebody doesn’t like hugs you’re not giving them hugs all the time,” Sandy saidWhile love languages are fun and all, there’s not really any science behind them. !e truth is in a healthy relationship, it’s important to incorporate all of the di\"erent love languages.“Psychologists who work in couples therapy frown upon love languages because they are too vague or too general, and technically people are going to utilize the skills of all love languages in a given relationship,” Sandy said. Digital Love Languages!ere are many pros and cons to showing one cares for someone online, especially when someone is in a long distance relationship with a friend, partner or family member. However, there are tons of ways one can stay connected and express di\"erent love languages over the phone.According to Utah State University, longdistance couples can build strong emotional intimacy, cultivate e\"ective communication and grow both individually and together. Couples, friendships, along with all types of relationships, can strengthen one’s bond with another because people cherish their time together even more because of that distance away.“With my siblings, I #nd it hard to tell them I miss them or love them. So, instead, I text them life updates in cryptic and abrupt ways. !is is not only to show them that I miss staying connected with someone digitally can be very di$cult. !e lack of physical presence can make it harder to read emotions, maintain meaningful conversations and build trust, o%en leading to misunderstandings or feelings of distance over time.“Me and my brother, who’s two years older than me, which means I was in high school with him for the #rst two years of my high school experience. I would drive with him to and from school, and we’d always have conversations, and then he graduated, which meant I didn’t have those #ve minute conversations about my day anymore. Now, I have to text him, which makes showing love with him a lot harder. So, I’ll call him or text him, which helps me replace those car rides we used to have,” Hall said.Graduating and physical d i s t a n c e can change how people communicate with loved ones, making it harder to maintain the closeness people once shared. However, digital a\"ection still helps replace those in-person interactions.“I like texting a little check in every once in a while to see how my loved one’s life has progressed. Texting a ‘I was thinking about you, how have you been’ is my favorite way to reconnect closeness with someone who I don’t see all the time. Along with calling for hours because that feels most like an in-person interaction,” Franklin said.Self-LoveWhen people think of love, it is o%en the romantics that come to mind: &owers, dates and promise rings. Less o%en does it bring to mind the much more important ideals of self love and personal self care habits. Self care is de#ned in the Oxford language dictionary as a practice in which one takes action to preserve and to improve one’s health. “Self-care is important because it supports your overall well-being. Life can be unpredictable and #lled with both challenges and stressors. Consistently practicing self-care them but also express my personality,” senior Hadlee Hall saidRather than expressing a\"ection through direct words, one can also rely on indirect communication to maintain closeness with one’s siblings. By sending brief updates about their life, they convey care in a way that feels emotionally manageable and authentic to who one is.“An in-person relationship is far more important with the exception of long distance. Virtual relationships have the safety of a barrier, but it’s still important to send frequent texts,” Hall said.T h e importance of face-toface relationships is crucial, while also acknowledging that virtual connections can feel emotionally bene#cial.“Personally, love can be strengthened with the amount of time spent with loved ones, so maintaining a close relationship is di$cult with distance. Primarily because regardless of who’s in your life, people grow separate from each other, which can result in outgrowing one another. Without physical closeness, a relationship can fade easily,” junior Robert Franklin said.Along with these positive aspects of showing love for someone over the phone, helps individuals navigate di$cult situations with greater balance, resilience and emotional stability,” Olentangy’s mental health specialist Jill Archibald said. !ere are many nonpro#ts and organizations working toward the goal of making self care a more accessible and common practice, one of those being !e Scatter Joy Project. A mental health organization that works to raise awareness through action and creative e\"orts, according to their website. “People are carrying pressure, expectations, comparison, grief, fear about the future and the feeling that they’re supposed to have life #gured out already. Selfcare is how you don’t disappear inside all of that or lose yourself along the way. It’s how you stay connected to who you are when school, social media and the world start telling you who you should be,” the founder of !e Scatter Joy Project Zachariah !ompson said. For students in particular, self care becomes even more applicable to one’s daily schedules. “Self care is important because as people and as students especially, we tend to get caught up in a million things like extracurriculars, keeping good grades, sports and so much more. So that makes it even more important to take care of yourself,” Co-Founder of the school’s Heart and Mind Club and junior Diya Hareesh said. !ere are many ways that someone can practice self care; for some, like Hareesh, prefer to clear their headspace by spending allotted time cleaning their room and personal spaces. For others, connecting with nature and spending time outside is a more important way to practice self care.“I try to incorporate more movement in my days, getting outside and enjoying sunshine and warmer temps when they are Archibald said it is important to remember that self-care doesn’t need to be an additional task, and that it is something that can be incorporated into one’s existing routine.“When you get busy, I feel like it is even more important to take care of yourself so that you don’t get stressed out or burnt out. When I get really busy, I tend to focus on smaller things that make me happy and can help me to avoid burning out,” Hareesh said.!ere are many small and simple ways that one can easily work on incorporating into daily life in order to prioritize their mental wellbeing.“For example, consider your sleep habits. If you o%en go to bed late while scrolling on your phone or watching a show, try a more consistent routine that includes an earlier bedtime, improved personal hygiene, and limited screen time. You might even consider journaling as a replacement for phone use before bed,” Archibald said. !e thing that is most important to remember is that self care is individual to each person and can be adapted to each di\"erent lifestyle. “Self-care shouldn’t consistently feel like an additional stressor or obligation in your life. It may feel like that at #rst, but with routine and consistency, self-care can make you feel more balanced overall. You may also need to adjust what you do for self-care throughout your life as things change - and that’s completely normal,” Archibald said.In such a fast paced world, it is vital to remember to take some time for oneself. “Self-care is pretty simple. It’s really just about being intentional with what brings you joy. Choosing, on purpose, the things that make you feel like yourself in a world that’s always trying to pull you in a hundred di\"erent directions. Once you #gure that out, just do more of it,” !ompson said.available, and prioritizing sleep. Every so o%en I check in with myself and re&ect on how I feel I am doing. !is practice helps me identify areas where adjustments may be needed, such as increasing time spent on hobbies or strengthening connections with family and friends,” Archibald said.It is important to simply take into account what works best for each individual person, schedule and life. “!e #rst step is learning how to name what you’re feeling. A lot of us don’t even notice our emotions until we’re completely overwhelmed, and when we #nally stop, it’s not one clear feeling; it’s just everything. !ere’s a lot of nuance to emotion, and because of that, the care we need is nuanced too,” !ompson said.covercover12 february february 13Words of AffirmationQuality TimeGiftGivingActsofServicePhysicalTouchFounder of The Scatter Joy Project, Zacharaiah Thompson.
somebody doesn’t like hugs you’re not giving them hugs all the time,” Sandy saidWhile love languages are fun and all, there’s not really any science behind them. !e truth is in a healthy relationship, it’s important to incorporate all of the di\"erent love languages.“Psychologists who work in couples therapy frown upon love languages because they are too vague or too general, and technically people are going to utilize the skills of all love languages in a given relationship,” Sandy said. Digital Love Languages!ere are many pros and cons to showing one cares for someone online, especially when someone is in a long distance relationship with a friend, partner or family member. However, there are tons of ways one can stay connected and express di\"erent love languages over the phone.According to Utah State University, longdistance couples can build strong emotional intimacy, cultivate e\"ective communication and grow both individually and together. Couples, friendships, along with all types of relationships, can strengthen one’s bond with another because people cherish their time together even more because of that distance away.“With my siblings, I #nd it hard to tell them I miss them or love them. So, instead, I text them life updates in cryptic and abrupt ways. !is is not only to show them that I miss staying connected with someone digitally can be very di$cult. !e lack of physical presence can make it harder to read emotions, maintain meaningful conversations and build trust, o%en leading to misunderstandings or feelings of distance over time.“Me and my brother, who’s two years older than me, which means I was in high school with him for the #rst two years of my high school experience. I would drive with him to and from school, and we’d always have conversations, and then he graduated, which meant I didn’t have those #ve minute conversations about my day anymore. Now, I have to text him, which makes showing love with him a lot harder. So, I’ll call him or text him, which helps me replace those car rides we used to have,” Hall said.Graduating and physical d i s t a n c e can change how people communicate with loved ones, making it harder to maintain the closeness people once shared. However, digital a\"ection still helps replace those in-person interactions.“I like texting a little check in every once in a while to see how my loved one’s life has progressed. Texting a ‘I was thinking about you, how have you been’ is my favorite way to reconnect closeness with someone who I don’t see all the time. Along with calling for hours because that feels most like an in-person interaction,” Franklin said.Self-LoveWhen people think of love, it is o%en the romantics that come to mind: &owers, dates and promise rings. Less o%en does it bring to mind the much more important ideals of self love and personal self care habits. Self care is de#ned in the Oxford language dictionary as a practice in which one takes action to preserve and to improve one’s health. “Self-care is important because it supports your overall well-being. Life can be unpredictable and #lled with both challenges and stressors. Consistently practicing self-care them but also express my personality,” senior Hadlee Hall saidRather than expressing a\"ection through direct words, one can also rely on indirect communication to maintain closeness with one’s siblings. By sending brief updates about their life, they convey care in a way that feels emotionally manageable and authentic to who one is.“An in-person relationship is far more important with the exception of long distance. Virtual relationships have the safety of a barrier, but it’s still important to send frequent texts,” Hall said.T h e importance of face-toface relationships is crucial, while also acknowledging that virtual connections can feel emotionally bene#cial.“Personally, love can be strengthened with the amount of time spent with loved ones, so maintaining a close relationship is di$cult with distance. Primarily because regardless of who’s in your life, people grow separate from each other, which can result in outgrowing one another. Without physical closeness, a relationship can fade easily,” junior Robert Franklin said.Along with these positive aspects of showing love for someone over the phone, helps individuals navigate di$cult situations with greater balance, resilience and emotional stability,” Olentangy’s mental health specialist Jill Archibald said. !ere are many nonpro#ts and organizations working toward the goal of making self care a more accessible and common practice, one of those being !e Scatter Joy Project. A mental health organization that works to raise awareness through action and creative e\"orts, according to their website. “People are carrying pressure, expectations, comparison, grief, fear about the future and the feeling that they’re supposed to have life #gured out already. Selfcare is how you don’t disappear inside all of that or lose yourself along the way. It’s how you stay connected to who you are when school, social media and the world start telling you who you should be,” the founder of !e Scatter Joy Project Zachariah !ompson said. For students in particular, self care becomes even more applicable to one’s daily schedules. “Self care is important because as people and as students especially, we tend to get caught up in a million things like extracurriculars, keeping good grades, sports and so much more. So that makes it even more important to take care of yourself,” Co-Founder of the school’s Heart and Mind Club and junior Diya Hareesh said. !ere are many ways that someone can practice self care; for some, like Hareesh, prefer to clear their headspace by spending allotted time cleaning their room and personal spaces. For others, connecting with nature and spending time outside is a more important way to practice self care.“I try to incorporate more movement in my days, getting outside and enjoying sunshine and warmer temps when they are Archibald said it is important to remember that self-care doesn’t need to be an additional task, and that it is something that can be incorporated into one’s existing routine.“When you get busy, I feel like it is even more important to take care of yourself so that you don’t get stressed out or burnt out. When I get really busy, I tend to focus on smaller things that make me happy and can help me to avoid burning out,” Hareesh said.!ere are many small and simple ways that one can easily work on incorporating into daily life in order to prioritize their mental wellbeing.“For example, consider your sleep habits. If you o%en go to bed late while scrolling on your phone or watching a show, try a more consistent routine that includes an earlier bedtime, improved personal hygiene, and limited screen time. You might even consider journaling as a replacement for phone use before bed,” Archibald said. !e thing that is most important to remember is that self care is individual to each person and can be adapted to each di\"erent lifestyle. “Self-care shouldn’t consistently feel like an additional stressor or obligation in your life. It may feel like that at #rst, but with routine and consistency, self-care can make you feel more balanced overall. You may also need to adjust what you do for self-care throughout your life as things change - and that’s completely normal,” Archibald said.In such a fast paced world, it is vital to remember to take some time for oneself. “Self-care is pretty simple. It’s really just about being intentional with what brings you joy. Choosing, on purpose, the things that make you feel like yourself in a world that’s always trying to pull you in a hundred di\"erent directions. Once you #gure that out, just do more of it,” !ompson said.available, and prioritizing sleep. Every so o%en I check in with myself and re&ect on how I feel I am doing. !is practice helps me identify areas where adjustments may be needed, such as increasing time spent on hobbies or strengthening connections with family and friends,” Archibald said.It is important to simply take into account what works best for each individual person, schedule and life. “!e #rst step is learning how to name what you’re feeling. A lot of us don’t even notice our emotions until we’re completely overwhelmed, and when we #nally stop, it’s not one clear feeling; it’s just everything. !ere’s a lot of nuance to emotion, and because of that, the care we need is nuanced too,” !ompson said.covercover12 february february 13Words of AffirmationQuality TimeGiftGivingActsofServicePhysicalTouchFounder of The Scatter Joy Project, Zacharaiah Thompson.
THE SCENEthe scene | boys basketballdesigner rylee bokesch | writer rylee bokesch14 | february boys basketball | the scenefebruary | 15Senior guard Xavier Aguila brings the ball up against Hilliard Bradley. “The season has been going pretty well. Wehave been finding our stride as a team and are playing great team basketball. The chemistry throughout the team is next level. We are excited to get into the tournament and make a run,” Aguila said.
THE SCENEthe scene | boys basketballdesigner rylee bokesch | writer rylee bokesch14 | february boys basketball | the scenefebruary | 15Senior guard Xavier Aguila brings the ball up against Hilliard Bradley. “The season has been going pretty well. Wehave been finding our stride as a team and are playing great team basketball. The chemistry throughout the team is next level. We are excited to get into the tournament and make a run,” Aguila said.
END OF THE WORLD2026 doomsday clock predictionwriter elijah smies | designer sophia robinson | source thebulletin.org The end of the world is upon us, or is it? !e truth is: humankind will never be able to know for sure, but the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS) has set out to answer this question with their one-of-a-kind creation, the Doomsday Clock.!e clock, while seeming like a traditional gear-driven clock, actually has a lot more drive to it. Being set once every year by the BAS, an independent nonpro\"t organization built with some of the most impressive minds of our time, having been founded by Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer in 1945. “!e clock is pretty reputable in their decisions. !ey base their decisions o#of real world events and issues, and they have a great board of reputable scientists,” sophomore Alex Kerns said. Last year, the BAS set the 2025 clock at 89 seconds, which marked the \"rst time the clock dropped beyond the 90-second mark. !is was justi\"ed by the boom in arti\"cial intelligence(AI) usage and enhanced political struggles, which caused uncertainty among people going into the new year. “I believe the decision to set the doomsday clock to 89 seconds was justi\"ed due to the political climate of the world, war and climate issues,” Kerns said.!ese scientists, every year, will process the outcomes of that year into a certain time, stating a certain amount of time until “midnight”, representing the world’s doomsday, hence the name, Doomsday Clock, with the reveal of 2026’s results having occurred on Jan. 27. Extremely pressing issues that led to the decision to set the clock by the BAS include nuclear risk, climate change, biological threats and disruptive technologies (such as arti\"cial intelligence); however, in years past, the BAS has focused extremely on the pressing nuclear weaponry development and the apparent arms race between major countries, according to thebulletin.org.!e 2026 Doomsday Clock decision by the BAS was o$cially to set the clock to 85 seconds to midnight, the closest the clock has ever been to the predicted doomsday culture16 februaryOn Jan 27, the doomsday clock was set at 85 seconds to midnight, the closest the clock has ever been to midnight in its history.of the world, which showed a four-second drop from the previous year’s time.“I think 85 seconds is the correct setting because the threat of wars is constantly pressing humanity, and the threat of AI advancements needs to be addressed because of the signi\"cant threat it poses to the traditional way of human life,” sophomore Landon Eralio said.In the o$cial 2026 Doomsday Clock statement, many reasons for this decision were cited, including a rise in nuclear weaponry con%icts between the United States and Russia, greenhouse gas production rising by 150 percent of the preindustrial levels and the enhanced risk of AI-created bioweapons that have posed signi\"cant threats as the increased stability of AI models is brought into question in 2026, according to thebulletin.org.Overall, the public reception on this decision has been worrying, as the aforementioned reasons for the setting of the clock only scratch the iceberg for the many issues that led to the decision, with other, more current in%uences only adding to the drama. “One major event I think played into this is the US withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). I also think Donald Trump’s return to power a#ected this decision, too. Also, to add, the world is crossing an irreversible climate tipping point with the collapse of warm water coral reefs,” Kerns said.!e Doomsday Clock ticks down once more, and the issues have never been more pressing; therefore, the BAS believes change has never been more imperative, and the sooner humankind takes action, the more hope for the future it may have.!e Doomsday Clock is a design that warns the public about how close people are to destroying the world with dangerous technologies of their own making. It is a metaphor, a reminder of the perils people must address if they are to survive on the planet.What is the Doomsday Clock?
EDUCATION EXCHANGEexchange students from around the worldwriter tenley walker | designer sophia robinson | photo by sophia robinsonculturefebruary 17Sophomore Antonii GomisTraveling to a new country is almost always fun and exciting. Orange exchange students, senior Davide Lorusso and sophomore Antonii Gomis, love traveling so much that they took it to the next level: they were willing to spend one year in America attending school and staying with the Elwel’s, their host family.Lorusso is from Italy and moved here as an exchange student !ve months ago. When hearing Italy, people o\"en think of endless pasta and delicious #atbread pizza as an everyday diet, but Lorusso plans to break this myth.“We don’t eat only pasta and pizza,” Lorusso said.Gomis also moved here as an exchange student !ve months ago but from Spain. $e !rst thing he noticed was a change in the sports programs.“In Spain, you do a sport all year round and here you can change every season,” Gomis said.Traveling can bring about many di%erent kinds of emotions for all people, even when it is just a short trip. $ese students experienced all kinds of feelings when preparing to leave their home countries.“I was excited, curious and a little scared,” Lorusso said.When traveling, it is hard to make a brand new place feel like home. A common question that exchange students o\"en get asked is whether or not they miss home. “$e most di&cult part is not seeing my friends and family,” Gomis said.Lorusso has a similar experience when the topic of family comes up.“I miss my grandparents,” Lorusso said.Another problem regular travelers have is a di&culty feeling at ease, comfortable or relaxed when they constantly feel like they are alone. $is can make !nding new friends hard.“I met lots of friends especially from PE and sports,” Lorusso said, “I came here with another exchange student so we were friends immediately.” $e trouble of !tting in is also a problem these exchange students come across o\"en. However, there are small things they can pick up from other students to !t in.Lorusso found that to !t in easier, it helped to “learn the slang,” he said.Everybody knows the “American” stereotype consists of being loud and obsessing over John Deere, so it is no shock that is what Gomis and Lorusso were expecting when coming to America. But to their surprise, that is not all they saw when they got here.“$ey all go to the gym,” Lorusso said.Gomis admits that he was scared to meet his host family at !rst but warmed up to them quickly. “$ey are really nice and altruistic,” Lorusso said, “they would describe me as really fun and talkative.”$e biggest di%erence these students noticed when moving here was the schooling.“In Spain, it is more di&cult, and the teachers are more strict. We have only one class for four years with the same people, and the teachers come and go every period,” Gomis said.American food is de!nitely one-of-a-kind, but that only made Gomis and Lorusso more excited to try it. “I was excited to try Crumbl Cookies and Canes, and they lived up to the hype,” Gomis said.$e !rst major holiday these students experienced was $anksgiving Day.“I didn’t think I would like mashed potatoes, but they were actually good,” Gomis said.Many things surprised Gomis when !rst arriving here that he was not expecting.“We look at the #ag in class and before games,” Gomis said, “$e classes Child Development and Photography surprised me the most.”According to EBSCO, less than two percent of high school students become exchange students even though it is an amazing opportunity. “I plan to graduate my junior year from Orange and then go back to Italy for my senior year so I will have two degrees,” Lorusso said.Even with all the new changes from their origin countries, Gomis and Lorusso handled them well and are loving all the new things they are learning about the culture while being here.“I would do it again and I’m sure my children will do it too,” Gomis said.Senior Davide Lorusso
PETS AND PAWSITIVITYcaring companions improve healthwriter abbey simmons | designer savanna smith | permission to print marley abod & peyton johnsonIn a world where everyone is constantly busy, whether they are on electronics, working or studying, people can !nd solace in a lot of things. One of those things can be pets, and they are actually important for people’s health.According to the University of Georgia, loneliness can increase risks in physical diseases, such as heart disease. \"is brings up the importance of having a pet. One student, junior Marley Abood, has a lot of pets.“I have four dogs, a cat, a chinchilla and !sh. I’ve grown up with my dogs and cat, and my chinchilla and !sh I got in recent years. Right now, I’m planning on getting a milk snake once I have room,” Abood said.Abood really enjoys having pets, and she !nds it super bene!cial. Another student, senior Peyton Johnson, has two dogs that she loves. “I have an English bulldog and a golden-doodle. I love that both of my dogs are super a#ectionate and that they never bark,” Johnson said. Clearly, both these students love their pets. However, there are de!nitely challenges when it comes to pets, especially with Abood, who has very unique pets.“Extra care for my pets involves a lot of baths and brushing, also, speci!c food for each individual pets’ needs,” Abood said. Having pets involves a lot of extra time and money, which can present di$culties for owners. Johnson also has challenges with her pets, although dogs are very typical pets. “My English bulldog requires a lot of vet visits due to a lot of the infections bulldogs are prone to, but the golden-doodle is really simple with normal vet visits and grooming,” Johnson said. \"ere are obviously many challenges and di$culties, or disadvantages that go along with having pets. However, the mental bene!ts are prevalent too.According to the University of Georgia, “\"e general consensus is that pets make people healthier and happier.”\"is is very true for Abood, who has almost all positive feedback on having pets. She re%ected on the positive bene!ts.“\"ere are so many bene!ts, like having lifelong buddies,” Abood said.In regards to negative e#ects, she didn’t have much to say.“\"e only negative e#ect is wanting more,” Abood said.To touch back on loneliness, many people !nd companionship in pets. Being lonely can have very negative impacts on people’s lives, and the importance of pets in this dilemma is very signi!cant.According to the Mental Health Foundation, pets provide companionship and can give people a sense of security. \"ey also pointed out that having a pet can reduce anxiety and help the owner meet new people.Obviously, pets are helping slowly decrease loneliness and are therefore helping reduce physical health risks.\"e article also pointed out how pets can help children with autism. Pets can help these kids build con!dence and social skills, which directly translates to the real world.While discussing mental health, Johnson said her dogs have helped her so much.“I de!nitely think that having dogs bene!ts me mentally. When I’m having a rough day, I really enjoy going home and getting to spend my down time with them,” Johnson said.Again, this sense of companionship can truly help people. For example, the Human Animal Bond Research Institute found that 80 percent of people turn to their pets when they feel lonely.\"ey also found that one in !ve pet owners in America were recommended to have a pet by a therapist or doctor. Pets really do help mold and a#ect how people feel, act and behave. \"ese bene!ts are so extremely impactful to society.“\"e bene!ts of having two dogs is de!nitely always having ‘someone’ with me. I’m never truly home alone, and I spend a lot of time with them,” Johnson said.If pets continue to support people and carry them through hard times, this could save lives. According to the World Health Organization, loneliness is responsible for up to 100 deaths an hour, and more than 871,000 deaths each year.So, pets aren’t just making people happier. \"ey’re literally saving lives. By reducing anxiety, helping the building of con!dence, and more, pets have had such a positive impact in the world. But when they help reduce loneliness, something that kills many people every year, it just shows how much pets are doing for people.Pets truly hold a special place, not only in hearts but also in minds. feature18 february Marley Abod’s pet chinchillia.Peyton Johnson’s English Bulldog.
LEFT ON READsocial media killed romancedesigner ava mejiaopinionfebruary 19Dear ,01/1997“red !ag”“stalking reposts”“on delivered”“snap scores”“situationship”“the roster”“\"ne shyt”“talking”“ghosting”Palvas Construction ad will go here
VOGUE’S VERDICTis it embarrassing to have a boyfriend?writers keira dickson & abi wykoff | designer rylee bokesch & abi wykoff! \"#$%&'( $ )*+,-&.'/ &0 .1)$-$00&'(23Vogue recently came out with an article in October about whether or not having a boyfriend is embarrassing. !is was written by Chanté Joseph, who posted a Tiktok about this article she wrote, and this continued to spread around social media and cause speculation.In the article, it states that boyfriends are out of style. !ey won’t come back in style until they start acting right. Along with more statements, having a boyfriend typically takes hits on a woman’s aura, as one commenter claimed. !is is completely valid; boyfriends are embarrassing. !ink about it: womanhood used to be a\"rmed by who you are dating; therefore, posting and praising a boyfriend online just ampli#es that idea. I personally believe that this article is empowering and further helps the argument that as a woman, having a boyfriend butchers how they look from others.I understand that there are happy relationships, and people shouldn’t care how they look to others. However, that doesn’t make it something women shouldn’t be embarrassed by.Modern dating values female independence, and as a society, people have #nally shi$ed from those past norms of relying on a relationship to be valuable as a woman. In the article, Joseph also mentions how being single gives someone more freedom, especially as a woman. She says being single gives women this ultimate freedom to say and do what they want. It is absolutely not every woman, but I do notice that women can become more beige and watered-down online when in a relationship. It’s a fact that relationships need a lot of compromise to thrive, which includes compromising needs, passions, dreams and overall can make a woman’s identity more bland. !is happens subconsciously for women, especially since women are raised to believe they need to tone down for men.Even though falling in love can be fun and exciting, the concept of heteronormativity and having a boyfriend can subconsciously be a fragile concept in the public eye.Women’s desire to romanticize a single life is moving and rethinking traditional roles of needing a boyfriend helps reevaluate the idea of being with a man. !\"#$%&'( #( )*+,-%.&/( %0( *&1+( .2)#--#00%&'( %,(+*3-()*+,-%.&/(%0(.2)#--#00%&'4Having a boyfriend isn’t embarrassing, and being in love de#nitely isn’t something that should be ridiculed or shrunk away from. According to Vogue, having a boyfriend is embarrassing; author Chanté Joseph writes that being single is more of a %ex than being in a relationship, and that posting le$ and right about one’s lover is starting to “turn o&” the general public. But let’s think about this more: has anyone ever looked at a perfect boyfriend and thought, “Yeah, it’s embarrassing that she is with him?” No! Obviously not. If that man worships the ground his signi#cant other walks on, buys them %owers, takes them to dinner, respects their decisions and values their presence, then girl, he’s a catch. In this newly prominent article, Joseph writes that some female content creators “also experience people unfollowing [them] when [they share] a romantic relationship.” So what is it? Jealousy, perhaps? Because I truly cannot think of a single embarrassing thing about being in love with someone who is just as in love with you.As Zohran Mamdani said in his take on the viral Vogue article, “If you’re worried your boyfriend will embarrass you, you should probably get a new boyfriend.”I couldn’t agree more Mr. Mamdani! Because while I cannot imagine an embarrassing aspect of an amazing boyfriend, I can think of a multitude of them when I see a girl dating a bad guy. So let’s stop shaming the lovebirds and the healthy happy couples; maybe people can turn some of this relationshipangled jealousy into judging the girls who cut t h e i r standards in half, ignore their morals and pick the #rst guy that turns attention in their direction. Not to say that it is the girl’s fault for the boys’ issues, but women really need to stop settling and let them get away with their actions, ladies. Like !e Medium said, “You will si$through a lot of stained shirts, but if you keep looking, you’ll eventually #nd something amazing.”So if that article hit a little too close to home for you, maybe it’s a sign to reevaluate your relationship decisions. Because having a boyfriend is really only embarrassing if your boyfriend is embarrassing.opinion20 february
HALLMARK HOLIDAYSconsumption takes over heartfelt memorieswriter delaney newell | designer malak chahboubNew Year’s, Valentine’s, St. Patrick’s, April Fool’s, and so on and so forth. Another holiday comes before the previous one is over so much so that it can sometimes feel like there’s one every week. I’m frankly tired of all of the holiday hectic.I know that the companies for sure aren’t. !e big brands like Hallmark, Target, Walmart and Macy’s bene\"t greatly from these popular Hallmark holidays. In 2024, a sum of $979.5 billion was spent due to holiday advertising, according to statista.com. !ese big companies have taken the fun out of holidays. Holidays are supposed to be about spending time with the people one loves and celebrating the day, not about who can get the more expensive gi#for the other person. People should go back to making homemade presents and cards. When I was younger, growing up for Christmas every year I’d make my parents gi#s instead of buying them, until I got a job this year I bought them gi#s; the gi#s were more meaningful when I made them rather than buying them, and I spent time on them. !e holidays should be about connection not consumerism.!e stores don’t even care about the sentimental value a holiday holds. During the holiday season, prices seem to rise, but people don’t seem to care because they need to get gi#s for friends and family. !e big stores like Hallmark and Target leverage o$ of people’s want for material things during these holidays. !ese brands don’t care about the meaning of the holiday. Instead, they only want to continue to increase their pro\"t. Additionally, consumerism causes so many issues. Buying new balloons, new streamers, paper plates, wall decor, cups, all to get thrown away and wasted right a#er. Just think about the gi# bags and opinionfebruary 21wrapping paper people just throw away instead of reusing during the holidays. Approximately 2.3 million pounds of wrapping paper ends up in land\"lls every year, according to ecocenter.org. Instead of \"lling people’s hearts, these holidays just \"ll land\"lls. According to rainbowrestores.com, 35 percent of Americans buy new decorations instead of reusing the old, Not only is that wasteful, but it is also expensive and unnecessary. Companies and brands continue to make more useless products that end up catching people’s eyes and start new trends. So, instead of focusing on the holiday itself, people focus on the next best decoration that can \"ll their home. When I think of holidays, the \"rst thing that comes to mind are not the balloons, the streamers or the lights or the blow ups in the yard. When I think of holidays, I think family, and I think spending time with my loved ones. !is year we should bring the holidays back into what they stand for and start spending more time with the people we love and care for. Giving gi#s is supposed to be about bringing smiles to people’s faces, not about who can spend more money. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and with each year, gi#s get less and less romantic. What once was handwritten love letters, poems and big romantic gestures has turned into $20 teddy bears or $30 %owers that will die in a week. Don’t get me wrong, the %owers and the teddy bears and candy are all cute and romantic. But people should stop spending money on something so expensive, when putting in the emotional e$ort will have a much better outcome and will strengthen their relationships. !erefore, I challenge you to channel some vibes from yesteryear and try something homemade and heartfelt this Valentine’s Day.
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984)I bring this up without mentioning (or bothering with) the sequels. As a standalone, this movie is one of the most surreal, creepy and iconic horror movies of the decade, maybe even all time. It stands out to me not just because of Freddy’s nightmare-populating design, but also because the !nal girl, Nancy, uses her mind to defeat him. A true classic that I want to rewatch, come to think of it. “Misery” (1990) —still the 80s, don’t complain)A list of 80s movies can’t be complete without a contribution from the late Rob Reiner. Kathy Bates steals the show in this classic about a writer held captive by his psychotic fan. She’s by turns odd, funny, sweet, menacing, and cockadoodie-crazy in this performance that rightly earned her an Oscar. \"is !lm closes out a decade loaded with Stephen King adaptations, good and bad and ugly. But it stands out for its superb direction and stellar performances. I love it. 7 classics to rewindcolumnist shiv majmudar | designer savanna smith sure. But this is my favorite one (edging out “Raiders”by a little bit). It’s everything I love about Indiana Jones in one movie. It never loses its footing, darts from setpiece to setpiece with wit and style. And it’s got all the whip-cracking, Nazi-punching, tank versus horse action you could ask for. It even has Sean Connery (60s James Bond) in it. Need I say more? “!e !ing” (1982)\"is movie bombed at the box o#ce, yes, but only because it got slotted with “Blade Runner” AND “E.T”. Which not only proves how stacked the box o#ce was during this decade, but how ahead of its time this movie was. \"e paranoia, body horror and tension of this !lm are unparalleled even today, and it’s an absolute classic. Audiences in 1982 weren’t ready for it, but as Marty McFly would assure them: “Your kids are going to love it!”And speaking of Marty…“Back to the Future” (1985)Again, we could slot the whole trilogy in here (even the Wild West madness of the third). But this is the one that started it all, and it blew me away when I watched it as a kid. It’s a movie that makes me feel happy. It makes me want to lock in on guitar, too. “!e Empire Strikes Back” (1980)A sequel so good that it has become the shorthand to describe a good sequel of anything. I hope my second column was ever the “Empire Strikes Back” of my column. Even if it wasn’t, we can con!dently say that this is the best Star Wars movie, barring “Revenge of the Sith” (which makes the prequels worth it, by the way). I don’t know why I didn’t think of this movie !rst. It’s probably the most popular movie on this list, I think. Just perfection. Let’s rip the Band-Aid o$. Yes, I think the 80s were a pretty good decade. Bold words from someone who didn’t live through them, I know, but it’s not exactly a hot take.Sometimes, I think people can get nostalgic over a soggy %ip%op if enough time passes. But at the same time, I can’t help but admit: the 80s were really cool. Don’t remind me that I was born in 2008, please. Rotary phones, kids riding their bikes a&er dark, no parental supervision, no iPhones, rock and roll on the stereo—it suits my soul. Can’t explain, won’t try to. \"ere’s some magic about it, rose-tinted glasses and all. And there was de!nitely something special going on at the movie theaters. A golden age for horror and action movies, maybe it’s the lack of CGI that does it for me, or the pure storytelling, or the humor, the exhilaration, the childlike wonder. Maybe it’s the thrill of glimpsing–just for 90 minutes—a portal to a past that’s in our rearview mirror. Whatever it is, the !lms I list here inspired my love for movies. And I’m guessing you might feel the same way. Here, in no particular order, are my favorite 80s movies. Resurrect your VHS. \"ese are all worth the rewatch. “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989)I could put the whole series in here, THE SCREENcolumn22 february& THE PAGE WITH SHIVPhotos of senior columnist Shiv Majmudar throughout the years.
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